


lightning strikes once and true (call it magic when i’m with you)

by kay_emm_gee



Series: holy water cannot help us now [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Awkward Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 13:11:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8447200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kay_emm_gee/pseuds/kay_emm_gee
Summary: The ‘incidents’, as Monty took to calling them, only increased in frequency in the next few weeks. Power surges and sparking wires, static shocks and arcs of blue electricity that made his fingertips tingle and his hair stand on end. After the first time, he rarely hurt himself; it was more just surprising, and then annoying. It was getting harder to hide them, too. Raven’s scowls at his yelps or wide-eyed stares turned into concerned glances, and Wick stopped teasing him about the accidents. Sometimes he could feel them staring at his back, maybe even hear them talking under their breath about it.He just ignored them, because then he could ignore it, whatever it was. If other people noticed the weird occurrences, then they were real and would have to be dealt with. If it was just him, well–it could wait until they had irrefutable proof.





	

**Author's Note:**

> not entirely necessary to read the previous pieces in this series, but it would be helpful :)

At first, Monty thought it happened because he was always around Raven, and Raven was always tinkering. And when Raven tinkered, things happened. Flickering lights and small explosions were a give-in when one was trying to improve the electrical system of an entire station, not even considering this one had survived a fall from space. So Monty took the weird occurrences in stride. Worst case, another ghost had decided to adopt Raven, though both she and Wells ( _god_ , that still weirded him out) insisted it wasn’t.

He tried not to think about it too much, not when their electrical system rehaul took so much of his time and energy lately. Sinclair had recruited him because of his engineering background (though also for his ability to mediate between Raven and Wick, he guessed). It was a project that would take months, but when they were done, it meant lights to more quarters and a greatly improved kitchen. They were all working their asses off, so at first the bulbs going out and the static in the air and the sparks at the tips of his fingers did not even really register.

The first time he injured himself was when they were dismantling some circuits. With his head half in the wall of a main corridor, and Wick doing the same two panels over, he couldn’t see the passersby walking behind them. They were distracting, loud footsteps and louder voices, because it was lunchtime. Monty’s stomach rumbled a bit, and he glared at the mess of wires that he still had to sort through before even considering taking a break.

A bout of familiar laughter cut through the walls suddenly, echoing around in the empty space, and that’s when the flash came. A blinding one, followed by a sharp shock to his left hand. Monty yelped, jumping. His shoulder slammed into the sharp side of the cut hole, and he hissed from the impact.

“Yo, Monty! You alright?” Wick called out, his voice tinny-sounding through the metal.

“Um,” he breathed out. “Not sure.”

His chest was tight, but he didn’t know if it was from the electrical shock or the _what-hell-just happened_ shock. He hadn’t even been near live wires; they had shut down power on this side of the hall temporarily while they did repairs. There was no reason for him to get shocked. Some dulls bangs sounded, and then Wick was helping him out of his workman’s hole and into the hallway. Monty sat panting as he leaned against the metal wall, thankful for its coolness.

“What’d you do, hotshot?” Wick asked with a smile, but there was genuine concern in his eyes.

“No idea.”

Wick raised an eyebrow, looked him over, then nodded. “Yup. We’re going to medical.”

“But Sinclair needs these assessments done by–”

“Sinclair wouldn’t want us losing one of our best engineers to overlooked electrical injuries,” Wick argued firmly. Then the smile was back. “C’mon up and at ‘em. I’ll help you hobble over to medical.”

Groaning, Monty gave him a dark look, but the pain in his chest stopped him from saying more. So he let Wick help him up, already preparing to argue with Clarke about how he was _fine_ to go back to work right away.

It wasn’t until dinner that night–where he sat with Clarke and Bellamy, who kept watching him very closely out of the corners of his eyes–that he heard the laugh from the hallway again. Looking down the table, he saw Nathan grinning and shaking his head at a smirking Monroe. Monty’s chest panged beneath his bandages, and he reached for a glass of water, his mouth suddenly very parched.

* * *

A week later, he was looking over some design plans in the workroom when it happened again. He was so focused on figuring out what Raven’s brilliant mind had done this time that he didn’t hear the footsteps approaching. Then a voice called out from the doorway.

“Where’s Reyes?”

Monty nearly jumped half a foot and heard a crackling from above. He looked up just in time to see the bulb in the hanging lamp flicker back to a normal light level. As he breathed deeply to restore his heartrate to a normal level, he glanced back over to the door. Nathan was looking at him with one eyebrow cocked and a half-amused expression.

“Thought at least the engineers’ and mechanics’ quarters would have properly functioning electricity,” he said.

Monty shrugged and licked his now-dry lips. “Um, we’re working on that.”

Nathan grinned. “I can see that. Concentrating so hard you didn’t even hear me walk up.”

“Well, I only did pass Earth Skills because I grew up in Agro.”

“Bellamy’ll make you go on one of his refresher courses if he finds out your observational skills are slipping.”

Monty gave him a pointed looked. “Well, only if someone tells him.” Monty gave him a pointed looked.

Nathan pretended to challenge him, but only for a moment. Then he leaned forward, hands braced on the sides of the doorway, and winked. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

Monty felt a stupid grin forming, and he just managed to babble out Raven’s location and send Nathan on his way before he felt his cheeks flush.

Suddenly there was a loud hum followed by a bright flash, and then he heard shattering glass. He felt shards rain down on him. After a moment frozen in shock, he shook off the piece, barely hearing them ping against the metal floor. Glancing up, he noticed the now blown-out bulbs above him and sighed. Lightbulbs were not easy to come by on the ground.

“Raven’s gonna kill me,” he muttered, then walked to the corner to get the broom.

* * *

The ‘incidents’, as Monty took to calling them, only increased in frequency in the next few weeks. Power surges and sparking wires, static shocks and arcs of blue electricity that made his fingertips tingle and his hair stand on end. After the first time, he rarely hurt himself; it was more just surprising, and then annoying. It was getting harder to hide them, too. Raven’s scowls at his yelps or wide-eyed stares turned into concerned glances, and Wick stopped teasing him about the accidents. Sometimes he could feel them staring at his back, maybe even hear them talking under their breath about it.

He just ignored them, because then he could ignore _it_ , whatever it was. If other people noticed the weird occurrences, then they were real and would have to be dealt with. If it was just him, well–it could wait until they had irrefutable proof.

(He also ignored the way his gut panged at the thought of before–before the Mountain–he would have told Jasper right away. Now, though, they were just back to talking civilly, without Jasper glaring daggers at him. Monty wasn’t about to give Jasper such an unknown part of himself, not yet.)

So he went about his duties and pretended nothing was different (they all were, in a way, pretending that the ground hadn’t changed them all irrefutably). He ate breakfast with Clarke, he helped get the first third of the electrical rehaul to its midpoint, he went cliff diving with Monroe on their day off, he did a guest appearance in Bellamy’s outdoors lessons on plant identification. And it was working–almost.

* * *

Evenings, by the fire and surrounded by friends, were his favorite time. Not just because of the good company and entertaining conversation and stories that inevitably followed dinner, but because it was one of the few places he felt fully relaxed these days. He was only fully at peace these days–as much as someone could be on the ground–when he _wasn’t_ in the Ark, wasn’t around electricity. He thought he was safe. And so when Nathan dropped down next to him on the log one evening, he let himself smile without reservation, without thought to anything but how close he was to him.

So he was taken off guard when, during Harper’s hilarious recap of the boar that chased one of the new guard cadets out in the forest earlier, Miller knocked his knee. The sudden contact was jarring, but warm and welcome. Immediately Monty’s heart thrummed, and he looked over to see Miller smiling at Monroe but glancing at him with a warm glint in his eye. So he smiled back, and that was when the fire surged.

It was over in half a second, just one large flare spiraling up from the flames licking at the logs that disappeared into the darkness with a woosh. People shrieked in surprise, then dissolved into nervous laughter. Monty blinked in the smoky air, his nose filled with the rich, musky smell of woodsmoke. He coughed, then felt a warm pressure on his back.

“You alright?” Nathan murmured.

Monty took in a few breaths, trying to keep them steady even after realizing it was Nathan’s hand on his back. He patted him gently a few times until he nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I’m good.”

“What the hell was that?”

“No idea,” he lied. Monty stared at the fire, which crackled meekly in the circle of stones. It didn’t seem like it was about to repeat its show from earlier, but still–it might.

“Monty.”

He looked up to find Nathan watching him with a soft expression. His lips parted, but no words came.

“Talk to Raven, or Bellamy,” Nathan finally said quietly. “They know someone who can help.”

“I–”

“I’ll go with you.” Then he paused, cheeks reddening. “I mean, only if you want me to.”

Monty inhaled deeply, feeling nervous and hopeful at the same time. “I’ll think about it.”

Nathan half-smiled at him, but neither of them said anything else, because they were jerking their heads around at the sound of a loud, barking laugh. To his shock, Monty saw Jasper laughing.

 _Jasper laughing._ That wasn’t something he’d seen since–well, he actually couldn’t remember.

He was pointing too, at a scowling Monroe, who, upon further inspection, didn’t seem to have eyebrows anymore. They were singed off by the fire

Miller cracked up, and Monty covered his mouth to hide his own laughter. Soon enough, everyone was laughing hard enough that they were close to crying–even Monroe–and so Monty let himself go, just enjoying the moment.

There would be plenty of time for worry later.

* * *

In the end, he did talk to Raven, who talked to Bellamy, and the three of them arranged to set out for the woman in the woods together. When he showed up at the gate on that morning at dawn, though, there were two additions to the group.

Nathan he had expected, at least a little bit (or had hoped, really). He gave Monty an assured nod when he approached, but that wasn’t enough. Without even pausing, he pulled Nathan in for a grateful hug.

“Thank you,” he whispered, then shivered a bit at feeling him mouth _anytime_ against the crook of his neck. As he felt himself redden, he pulled away, because he still had one more thing to deal with.

Stepping back, he turned to gaze to the last member of the group. Jasper glanced up from the ground, hands tightening on his rifle. He didn’t say a word, and Monty didn’t know where to begin, so they stared at each other in silence. Distantly he heard Raven huff behind him, but he just kept staring, and so did Jasper.

Finally, though, his friend cleared his throat, shifted from one foot to the other, and said, “No way I was letting you go off into the forest to meet some old witch. That’s how you get stuffed into an oven and eaten, dude.”

“I wouldn’t be alone,” Monty replied.

Jasper swallowed, then nodded. “I know. I meant without me. No way was I letting you go without me.”

Monty’s throat tightened because for the first time in a while, he saw a flicker of strength in Jasper’s eye. He took a step forward, and then suddenly he was being pulled into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry,” Jasper choked out. “I’m so sorry, for being such an ass.”

“I’m sorry too,” Monty whispered as he returned the embrace, because he would always be sorry about Maya.

It took several pointed coughs from Raven for the two of them to separate, and they got on their way shortly after that. Monty was in such a fog from the unexpectedly emotional morning that he didn’t realize when they had reached their destination. Blearily, he took in the sight of the old but clean cabin and the pale green of the clearing it stood in.

“So do we knock?” Jasper asked dubiously.

“She’ll know if we’re here,” Raven responded.

To his left, Nathan huffed skeptically. Bellamy started to mutter something to him, but Monty didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. Instead, the sound of the wind rushing through the trees filled his ears. It was like a hundred whispers rising and falling one after another, blending until they made one sound. Just as the loudest of them died down, he heard a soft tinkling cut through the air in a random rhythm. That sound was one voice speaking to him so clearly it was if it was whispering right in his ear.

_Come inside. Come inside, goufa kom tristraka._

His feet carried him forward of his own accord, obeying the voice. Only a rough grip on his shoulder shook him out of it, and when Monty looked around, he was at the porch steps of the cabin. Tearing his gaze away from the chimes hanging from the beams, he turned over his shoulder. Nathan was there, hand still on his shoulder, face creased with deep concern.

Monty gave him a small but reassuring smile then covered his hand with his own. “I’ll be okay. She will help.”

“How do you–”

“Because he is like me.”

The boys whipped around and spotted the woman now standing on the porch. She had a mildly exasperated expression on her face, but there was something bright about her eyes that put him at ease regardless. With one last squeeze to Nathan’s hand, he stepped forward.

“We’ll talk inside,” the woman said. Her skirts swished as she spun back into her house, and Monty followed confidently right behind her.

It was past time he realized the truth of the power that hummed under his skin, down to his very bones. He wasn’t scared, or worried–he was just ready.

* * *

“I don’t understand why you find this so weird,” Monty laughed. Jasper frowned at him, but he just shook his head. They had been talking about this the entire way back from the cabin. “Really–you eat in the same dining hall as Wells, and you heard from Monroe about Clarke. Why are witch powers so strange to you?”

“It’s _magic_ , Monty! Why aren’t _you_ freaking out?”

“Um, because it’s hella awesome.”

“Not arguing there, but…they’re more like superpowers, aren’t they?”

Monty made a face. “You just want me to be a superhero so you can be a sidekick.”

“Hey, I’m nobody’s sidekick.”

Monty grinned and didn’t even miss a beat in raising his hand for a self-five that was timed perfectly with Jasper’s. Their time apart didn’t erase all the things they shared, he realized with warmth.

“I’m just saying,” Jasper continued, a bit sullenly. “That superpowers are cool. And with your lightning stuff–”

“–affinity for energy.”

Jasper flapped his hand dismissively. “Same difference. With the powers that you have, you could have like a crazy legit superhero name. Green Lightning, or, or–”

“No.”

“What about–”

Monty slapped his hand over his friend’s mouth. “Stop, before you embarrass the both of us.”

It was another few paces before Jasper stopped mumbling suggestions against his palm. Cautiously, Monty lowered his hand. Jasper sighed, but only a moment later, he grinned knowingly. “You afraid I’ll embarrass you in front of Miller? That he’ll find out what a comic book nerd you are?”

“No!”

Jasper snickered, then looped an arm around Monty. “Dude, let me tell you: with as much time as he spends watching you, I don’t know if there is anything you could do or be into that he wouldn’t be okay with.”

Monty felt his face flush, and he pursed his lips to fight against the smile forming. “You’re full of it.”

“Full of god’s honest truth is what I am,” Jasper proclaimed smugly. “You’ll see. One of you will stop being chicken eventually.”

Monty rolled his eyes and lightly shoved his friend away, but he still kept up pace and conversation with him the entire way home. He knew it wasn’t just the knowledge of his powers that was responsible for the grounded feeling in his gut; it was knowing that he was getting his best friend back too.

As for where he stood with Nate, well–that still needed to be settled. He glanced up at him, joking and laughing at Bellamy’s side, and felt a little thrill run through him, one that had nothing to do with any type of magic besides what a happy moment could bring.

* * *

Monty was mid-banter with Harper and Jasper by the fire two nights later when he felt someone at his side. Turning, he grinned widely when he saw who it was.

“Nate!”

“Hey there,” Nathan responded with an amused smile. “Took first dibs on the moonshine, I see.”

“The producer’s cut,” he volleyed.

“Fair,” Nate said with a laugh. Then he stepped away a little, and like a magnet, Monty followed. Vaguely he noticed the conversation continuing on without him, and that was just fine by him.

Nathan quirked a smile–a somewhat nervous one–at him and then asked, “Wanna take a walk?”

Monty nodded, dumping the dregs of his drink onto the ground. He deposited the tin cup onto a log as they walked through the camp yard, immediately snapping back close to Nathan’s side as they headed for one of the smaller paths into the woods. Crickets chirps and leaves crackling underneath their feet soon replaced the sound of conversation. Monty glanced up at the moon and grinned.

“The tides,” he murmured, his mind drifting briefing to their early days on the ground.

“What was that?”

Monty shook his head at Nate. “Nothing.”

Nate knocked his shoulder into his. “You can tell me.”

“Is that why you brought me out here? So I can tell you all of my secrets with no one to hear?”

“Obviously.”

Monty wanted to laugh, but there was something–anticipation, hope _,_ that _readiness_ again–bubbling up inside of him. So instead, he stopped and placed a hand on Nate’s arm to make him do the same. Taking a deep breath, he blurted, “Actually I do have a secret you should hear.”

Nate stared at him, lips parted. Monty felt himself grin a little, then said, “Fuck it.” He grabbed Nate’s face between his hands and kissed him, hard and fast. After a second of shock, Nate responded, pulling him close. For all the tentative dancing they had done previously, he threw himself right in, and Monty didn’t hold back either. Then he was backed roughly into a tree, the force of it enough to jostle them apart. He huffed out a laugh, which Nate echoed.

“So that’s why you brought me out here,” Monty teased. “This where you take all the guys?”

“Nah, just figured I should protect the camp.”

Monty raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Nate grinned, his eyes darkening with humor. “You know, you tend to go off a bit whenever I’m around, it seems. Who knows what explosion you would’ve caused if we’d been close to the Ark’s transformer because with me being as good a kisser as I am–”

Monty cut him off with another kiss, choosing to slow it down after a beat this time. He teased Nate, made him chase him, and it was a good while before they broke apart, both breathless.

“Yeah, okay, you might be better at that,” Nate muttered, trying to sound put out but failing. Instead, he sounded rather delighted.

Monty grinned and leaned in again, because he was only just getting started showing Nate what other types of delight, and magic, he could do.


End file.
